The Man With The Lion Tattoo
by FeatherAura12
Summary: Regina bumps into Robin Hood while on her way to Zelena's cabin, and they agree to work together to search the place. But what will happen when Regina learns something that Robin's long sleeves have hidden from her up until this point? The scene in the cabin where Regina finds out about Robin's tattoo, from her point of view.


"Nothing useful here." Regina admitted tensely. It was crucial to know the plans of someone if you were going to stop them, that much Regina knew from spending decades trying to ruin people's lives. But so far, she and Robin of Locksley (or Robin Hood, as he'd gone by as a thief in the Enchanted Forest), hadn't found a single thing that could even give them a hint as to what Zelena had up her sleeve. "Unfortunately." She frowned at the jar of powder she'd thought might be something useful. It was just flour. She set the jar on the table as gently as she could, given the annoyance that was starting to creep into her.

"Wait, so none of these," Robin gestured at the small pantry behind him and it's shelves stocked with jars, "contain magical properties?" He sounded slightly incredulous, like he couldn't believe that Zelena hadn't just left her magic lying around. Regina found his naivete both annoying and a little endearing. She hadn't met someone as teachable as he was in a while. Starting towards the cabinet Robin had indicated, Regina explained, "Well, a good witch covers her tracks. But a better one can uncover them." It made her almost want to grit her teeth with frustration, confessing that her half-sister was a good witch, but it was true. After all, she _had_ been Rumplestiltskin's student. "We'll find her. Just be patient." Not sure if she was talking to Robin or herself, Regina bent over and began to examine the contents of each container without touching them. She used both her physical and magical senses, but still came up dry.

"You know, I've heard many stories about the great and terrible Evil Queen." Robin sounded almost hesitant behind her as he began, though Regina couldn't fathom why. Maybe he was afraid she was going to chop off his head or blast him with a fireball. His tone grew in confidence as he continued, "But from this angle, the evil moniker seems somewhat of an overstatement." Regina couldn't help but smile at the fact that someone she'd only just met thought that. But it twisted into a wry one as she thought of how she had earned that title thoroughly in her past.

"Bold and audacious, maybe, but uh...not evil." he added. Her smile remained in place as she turned to face him, despite everything liking the adjectives he was using.

"The name served me well." Regina said freely with a nod of affirmation. "Fear is...quite an effective tool." She tried for a casual grin, but it came out a bit twisted by rue. She didn't like what she'd done, who she'd been. The thought of ever going back disgusted her.

Robin's mouth was graced with an accepting smile. But slowly, it and the look in his eyes slipped into a thoughtful expression that made Regina's breath come just a little faster. He took a couple deliberate steps towards her, stopping until there was just a whisper of an inch between them. Regina couldn't help the way her mouth fell open a bit, the way her heart settled into a deep, even rhythm. She couldn't quite believe what was going on, what it was making her feel. Daniel had been the last person to make her heartbeat so steady and sure; even Graham hadn't...well, things with Graham had been different. It certainly hadn't been anything like this, as Robin's face came closer to hers and her heartbeat migrated to her throat from excitement and nerves. Then, at the last possible instant, his head moved to the side of hers and he grabbed something off of one of the shelves. She tried not to let the disappointment show on her face, though it was hard. Immediately, she began scolding herself for even having anything to be disappointed about.

"_I'm the _Evil Queen_. There was no way he could ever love me...good Lord, did I really let myself stray that far down the fantasy trail?_" Regina couldn't believe her own thoughts."_Well, that will just have to stop. It's not possible, and that's that._" And yet, even as Robin pulled back with a bottle in his grip, he maintained the distance between them, or lack thereof. The thoughtful, considering look in his eyes also remained.

"What about this?" he inquired quietly. "Is this magical?" After meeting his soft but intense gaze for another couple seconds, Regina shifted hers to the bottle in his hand. Amusement flooded her as she saw the amber liquid that filled it.

"Not exactly." she said, resting a finger on the black cap. The rest of her hand was only a mere hairsbreadth away from his, and it made her feel the way he'd described her; bold and daring. "But it _is_ a liquid that can conjure courage, give strength, or even act as a love potion of sorts." His eyebrows raised a fraction with every property she listed. Finally, she could no longer stand her own joke and broke out in a beam and a chuckle. She could feel the base of her hand now resting on his knuckles, but neither of them changed the arrangement. "It's called whiskey, and no, it's not magical. Especially the next day."

"Oh." He gave her a small smirk as he realized that it was alcohol. He reached up past her again, though not nearly as closely as the last time, and grabbed something from the top shelf. There was a clink of glass on glass as he brought down two cups. He showed them to her and flashed a look that asked, "Why not?"

"You want to have a drink. Now?" Despite the partially accusatory phrasing of her question, her tone was completely amenable. She wasn't about to refuse a shot of whiskey.

"Well," he turned to the table behind him and set the glasses down. He pulled his sleeves up to just below his elbows and began to pour, saying, "over the last few days we've survived a curse, woken up in an entirely new realm, and forgotten a year of our lives. I'd say we've earned it." He faced her again with their cups, a half inch of the copper drink in the bottom of each. "Wouldn't you?" He extended his right hand, and the glass in it, towards her. With a pleased grin, Regina glanced down to take it from him. That was when she saw the black ink staining the inside of his forearm in a pattern that she had seen before...and was not likely to forget. The smile dropped off her face.

'You need love.' The memory of Tinkerbell's words rang in Regina's ears, as well as her own amused, yet skeptic response; 'You're going to help me find another soulmate.' Her flashback shot forward to the tavern that night, and Tinkerbell pointing through the dingy window, towards the man who was raising a tankard, unwitting of the fact that he was glowing with green pixie dust. Tink's insistence echoed in her head, 'There he is. The guy with the lion tattoo.'

And there it was, staring her right in the face as she snapped back to the present. The black background shaped like a shield, and the rearing, roaring lion depicted within it.

"Is something wrong?" Robin asked confusedly, reminding her that the tattoo belonged to someone. Apparently, her soulmate. Regina couldn't respond. Without saying anything and without looking up at his face, she strode away from Robin and out of the room, leaving the man with lion tattoo behind. Just like she had that night at the tavern, she was afraid and not knowing what to make of this new development...including how it was making her feel. Despite everything and all the layers of fear and worry enshrouding it, Regina Mills felt...hopeful.


End file.
